Exclusive-US judge to meet parties on Trump-tariff refunds in closed-door ’settlement conference’

try{ var _=i o; . if(!_||_&&typeof _==="object"&&_.expiry Oil prices dip after 5-day winning streak; set for weekly surge on Iran conflict Trump replaces Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem Wall Street ends lower on escalating Iran conflict, report of AI export curbs Trump says he must be involved in selecting Iran’s next leader (South Africa Philippines Nigeria) Exclusive-US judge to meet parties on Trump-tariff refunds in closed-door ’settlement conference’ By World Published 03/06/2026, 12:19 AM Updated 03/06/2026, 12:24 AM Exclusive-US judge to meet parties on Trump-tariff refunds in closed-door ’settlement conference’ 0 By Tom Hals March 6 - A U.S. judge will meet behind closed doors with government lawyers on Friday seeking to hammer out a process to refund up to $175 billion in illegally collected tariffs, a meeting a court official described as a "settlement conference." Judge Richard Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade will meet with lawyers representing the customs agency responsible for reimbursing more than 300,000 importers that paid the tariffs, which were struck down last month as unconstitutional. Government lawyers have said the process for refunding President Donald Trump’s signature tariffs was unprecedented in scope and would require manual review of tens of millions of tariff payments. U.S. courts are presumed to be open to the public, although judges will sometimes hold private meetings with parties to discuss scheduling or how to handle sensitive information. The calendar on the court’s website describes Friday’s meeting as a "closed conference." When asked why the meeting was closed to the public, Gina Justice, the clerk for the trade court, told Reuters on Thursday that it was a "settlement conference." The case that Eaton is overseeing to create a refund process was brought by a single importer, Atmus Filtration Inc, which said in a court filing it had paid $11 million in illegal tariffs. Atmus’ lawyers will be able to attend Fri...